Severn Valley Railway share scheme achieves first key milestone
Severn Valley Railway's share offer has received a strong start as part of a £2.5m campaign to fund major developments at Bridgnorth Station.
Launched just six weeks after the SVR’s ‘Pacific Power’ event, featuring famous locomotive Flying Scotsman, which attracted more than 45,000 visitors and captured public imaginations with extensive press coverage, the share offer was also subject to strong media interest which once again saw live radio and TV broadcasts from Bridgnorth Station throughout the launch on 1 November.
As a result, early investor interest was so high that the Railway’s share offer team had already hit its 10 per cent target just 10 days into the campaign with applications to the value of a quarter of a million pounds by the end of 11 November. This figure was quickly eclipsed, however, as early-bird enquirers continued to return completed application forms
By 21 November, just less than three weeks since the launch, SVR had sold 335,000 shares at an offer price of £1 each, putting the Railway well on its way to securing sufficient funds to build the planned new refreshment room and toilets at the line’s main destination station, the headline project in Phase 1 of its proposed restoration and development.
Additionally, nearly 40 per cent of applications are from new shareholders, those who have not previously invested in the Railway’s previous share offer programmes, testament to the growing appeal of heritage railways among wider publics.
General Manager, Nick Ralls, welcomed the campaign’s early success.
He said, "Of course we expect the majority of early share applications to come from committed supporters, from our strong core of existing shareholders, but we are pleased and surprised to see such a high volume of applications from new Railway supporters, especially so early on in the campaign.
"We have to attribute much of this to the extensive media support we have received and it has generated an exceptionally high level of enquiries as nostalgia for steam takes hold among new local audiences.
"What is also pleasing is that the total invested so far doesn’t necessarily yet reflect the true success of the launch. This is a staged application process whereby telephone and web applicants must first receive, complete and then return an application pack which must itself be carefully processed before the end sales tally can be updated.
"Therefore with more than 2,700 initial enquiries in the pipeline within just three weeks of the launch we are hopeful that we could be on our way to the next milestone of half a million within weeks."
The 300,000 shares milestone coincided with the start of groundworks at Bridgnorth Station on 17 November, to prepare foundations for the new refreshment room, to be built in the style of a typical Great Western Railway ancillary building c1900.
The refreshment room is just part of the first phase of development for Bridgnorth Station. The remainder of the first phase of development includes alterations to the 1862 neo-Jacobean, grade-II listed station building to reinstate the original booking hall and waiting room and expand the popular pub, the Railwayman’s Arms, as well as extensive tree planting work.
Second phase works which share offer proceeds will also fund include the installation of a turntable, more public realm improvements and opening up road access with enhanced car parking to accommodate significantly higher visitor numbers at the northern end of the line.
The Railway is not, however complacent regarding the level of applications, and Nick urged those with an interest to go online or call to find out more.
"Whilst we are immensely pleased with our launch progress so far, we do know that maintaining such a level of investment is going to be tough and that we still have a very long way to go on this exciting journey."
Full share offer information can be found at www.svr.co.uk/shareoffer or by calling 01562 757900.
